featuring budget-friendly DIY projects that make me happy

DIY Wedding “LOVE” Sign

My sister got married this past year and although she had an amazing decorator (shout out to Unforgettable Weddings), she still wanted to incorporate some personal DIY touches. She went to Pinterest and was sure she wanted to make a giant love sign with lights. We weren’t sure where we were going to put it, but we knew we had to have one (I say we because we are best friends and it was like I was getting married too because we did, and still do everything together). Oh and I also had to make the sign…because she gets too anxious when the stakes are high on a project. We came across this inspiration for our letters.

Step 1 – Measure and mark your letters on the board. This was actually kind of tricky because you have to make sure your letters are proportionate to each other. Based on the size of the foam board, I made the letters 8 inches thick (the letters in total were 18-20 inches wide and 30 inches tall) . I also did a lot of eyeballing and referencing of my inspiration pics to make sure everything was looking good. For the “O” I used bowls to trace a symmetrical curve on each corner and it worked really well. The “V” ended up being 7 inches thick because of the angle and the size of the foam board. Use your ruler and measuring tape to make sure all your lines are straight and even at each part of the letter. I recommend marking several spots and then connecting them with a line because you are working with such a large area.

Step 2 – Cut out the letters. Use a retracting knife to cut out your letters. Make sure you do this on an appropriate surface (Not a brand new kitchen table or anything else that can scratch). Take your time because one slip will make you really mad.

Even Daisy was feeling the love.

Step 3 – Mark where your lights will go and drill a hole. Decide how far apart you are going to place your lights. This may require lots of measuring (and math) in order for it to look symmetrical. We put our lights roughly 5 inches apart. But sometimes I had to improvise and they may have been a half an inch to an inch closer (because of the shape of the letter) but it wasn’t noticeable. Once you have this marked carefully drill a hole in the foam board (we had 40 holes). Be sure to use a drill bit that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the light casing so it can rest firmly in the hole.

Step 4 – Insert lights and voila! Carefully insert the lights into the hole. You will have to unscrew the bulb first, insert the base of the light, then screw the light back in. Can you believe how awesome this project turned out (scroll down) – I still get goosebumps! In total we only spent about $40 on this project. It was an absolute showstopper during the reception. It was such a simple project with a huge impact. Definately worth the effort!! And we reused the lights afterwards!

photo credit: Unforgettable WeddingsGORGEOUS! It started to fall a little so we should have pinned it somehow but my sister said she thought it added character. I agree!